great truth that had been thus crystallized. It was the response to the
overwhelming, heart-breaking appeals that came by every mail for aid
and advice, which revealed a great truth that lay dormant, a truth that
seemed to spring into full vitality almost over night--that could never
again be crushed to earth!

Nor could I then have realized the number and the power of the enemies
who were to be aroused into activity by this idea. So completely was I
dominated by this conviction of the efficacy of "control," that I could
not until later realize the extent of the sacrifices that were to be
exacted of me and of those who supported my campaign. The very idea
of Birth Control resurrected the spirit of the witch-hunters of Salem.
Could they have usurped the power, they would have burned us at the
stake. Lacking that power, they used the weapon of suppression, and
invoked medieval statutes to send us to jail. These tactics had an
effect the very opposite to that intended. They demonstrated the
vitality of the idea of Birth Control, and acted as counter-irritant on
the actively intelligent sections of the American community. Nor was the
interest aroused confined merely to America. The neo-Malthusian movement
in Great Britain with its history of undaunted bravery, came to our
support; and I had the comfort of knowing that the finest minds of
England did not hesitate a moment in the expression of their sympathy
and support.

In America, on the other hand, I found from the beginning until very
recently that the so-called intellectuals exhibited a curious and almost
inexplicable reticence in supporting Birth Control. They even hesitated
to voice any public protest against the campaign to crush us which was
inaugurated and sustained by the most reactionary and sinister forces in
American life. It was not inertia or any lack of interest on the part